Withholding Leads Only to Pain

He had thought everything was fine. He had returned home, he had gained new siblings, Kiara was to be betrothed to Malka's son, and the usurper was off of his throne.

His uncle's death hurt him only in his dreams as he remembered the times they had in his youth. Simba had remembered calling him Uncle Taka, but he was no longer Uncle Taka to him, he had been Scar. Just Scar. But that had been years ago, and Simba had children of his own to watch grow. Even then, it seems the Great Kings tested him with every move he made. They had lost Naba in the Ashlands to a rogue, Chaka had sworn himself to the Chill and to the legendary brotherhood renouncing his claims, and Kopa was lost to the world. Now, Kiara was set to take over the throne as his eldest child. Aisha and Shani, only a season behind Kiara in age, were growing fast; but they were still children in his eyes. And then there was Kion... His son.

Nevertheless, Simba had been in a heated discusion with his mother the day prior, stating that he would never be like Scar and how he was a disgrace to the Pridelands. Now, Tau had avoided him like the plague, and his younger sister Ari remained distant as well. Ari, she was the daughter of Scar -most likely forced upon Sarabi in his mind- and yet Simba couldn't bring himself to hate her. His uncle had other progeny running around the Pridelands, Afua and Mesi. There had been Imamu, Mesi's littermate, as well; but he had volunteered himself to the life of a sworn brother. He was the one to come back and fetch Chaka when he wanted to join. Their reunion was, tense. Mesi had grown to be a fine huntress, and she looked enough like her mother that some days Simba had forgotten who her father was. But Afua, Afua looked just like Scar had once, simply without his piercing green eyes. He could have exiled Afua along with Zira and her brood, but he had only just been born; even Simba knew that moving a newborn cub was risky. And so Afua had been permitted to stay.

Wait, didn't Zira have cubs with Scar too? Bah, more problems...

It had been a silent night as he sat in the den, thinking of new ways to prepare for the inevitable attack by Kovu and his pride, when his mother had walked in. The look on her face was one of sorrow, even in her old age her eyes held so much emotion.

"Mother." Simba called out, getting up to greet her. But Sarabi would not take her son's affections, she simply sat down and motioned for her son to do the same.

"I am dying, Simba."

What? No!

"Don't say that, you're not dying." He said, sounding like a scared child more than ever.

"I am, Simba, there is no denying it. Rafiki says I have maybe a week, maybe two if I'm lucky."

His mother, his strong mother, was dying in front of his eyes. It wasn't old age, it couldn't have been, his uncle was still king of the Ashlands and he was older than his mother was. "H-How?" he finally sputtered out, but she simply shook her head.

"The Spirits have a plan for me, they have a plan for all of us, perhaps this is the end of their use of me."

The Spirits, he had almost forgotten his mother worshiped what they called the New Gods down in the south. She had lived in the Pridelands for so long, he had thought that she had worshiped the Great Kings. But alas, his mother stuck to her roots.

Simba's silence was cut by his mother, "I am leaving in the morning, I wish to die in my homelands and be put to rest alongside my mother and father. But, there is something you must know, Simba."

"You've come to say goodbye, that you're dying, what else is there to tell me?" He was hurt, but nothing would have prepared him for this.

"You are not Mufasa's son."

She had explained it all, through the screams, through the pain. How Mufasa had never loved her, how Scar never wanted to be king. How it was the hyenas who had caused Mufasa's death, not Scar. He hated himself, he wanted to throw himself off of Pride Rock. Nala had believed he was Mufasa's, Rafiki believed he was Mufasa's, if not they wouldn't have come to bring him back, right? But his mother had said the Pridelands were flourishing under Scar's rule, that it was simply a drought that made the lands look neglected and overhunted. And that Scar never wanted to mate with Nala, he had only wanted to betroth Tau to her.

Tau... Ari... They knew. They knew this whole time and didn't tell him...

How many more siblings did he have? The age difference between Tau and Ari was large, there had to have been more cubs. Afua, Mesi, Imamu... They were all his siblings too. Half siblings, but siblings nonetheless. He had always thought he was an only child, and even gaining two siblings was stressful. But now he had gained so many more.

His mother had left him to ruminate in his thoughts, and Simba didn't know what to think. He had ran away thinking Scar had killed his father, but returned only to kill his real father, thinking he was the traitorous uncle the hyenas claimed him to be. And Scar had taken his death with a smile on his face. Had he simply been happy to see him? Had Scar known this was the only way to make sure Simba gained the throne? Now he was a kinslayer, but no one truly knew. Everyone still thought of him as the son of Mufasa, only Tau and Ari knew the truth. To top it off? Most, if not all, of the pride had lied to him about Tau's father also being Mufasa.

His mother had tried to protect him.

The fact of the matter was, Simba was the true heir to the throne no matter how he tried to spin it. Mufasa had no true children to his name, making Scar his heir. And when Simba came around, it didn't matter who fathered him, he was next in line to the throne. A true king.

And that's what hurt most of all.

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So, I was going to save this as a big reveal for the comic, but my muse is shot and I probably won't ever finish the comic; at least to the point of this story picture. Once I delve into Mufasa, Scar, and Sarabi's history the motives behind Simba becoming Scar's child will be clear...er. The next few story pictures are going to be Simba and Nuka related, but after that we'll be going way back in history to Mohatu's reign to see where this all began. 

I hope you guys are ready for the ride!

I might update this later with Scar's ghost having a low opacity to make it clear he's a ghost, but we'll see.